September Newsletter

September Newsletter

Putting it All Together

September 2016

Welcome to our monthly newsletter content, video and quiz. This is designed to continue our education in adding strategies to our toolbox for continued success. These monthly newsletters can be shared with your entire aquatic team as they could provide tips for typical swimmer in private and group lessons.

This month we will be “putting it all together” by taking a look at the progress of one swimmer from the live video session. James is the swimmer in the video located in the library tab of your e-learning. He has continued to improve, and in his new video you will be able to see progressions of swim skill benchmarks and strategies implemented. It would be helpful to review before or after this newsletter.

During this video the instructor will be discussing each activity as it happens and explaining the direction of the session as it unfolds live. We determined this to be the most important information for the first newsletter because there is “NO SET RECIPE” for each session. You will of course have goals and objectives and as you lead and follow the swimmer however, you may have to be flexible in your plan in order to have the best lesson.

James is a particularly important swimmer to look at because he is a wanderer, non-verbal and has an affinity to any body of water. He is 3 1/2 years old and recently wiggled out of his moms’ hand at a zoo, near a highway and plenty of woods. Thankfully, he was found trying to get into a strangers car in a nearby parking lot. You can imagine the moms’ relief and the panic she must have felt.

As we are creating a community of aquatic professionals to work with all abilities we are mindful that drowning is the leading cause of death for children with Autism. Working to teach safety, independence and ability to hold side or find your feet could improve the chances of a successful save. Decreasing the drowning statistics.

For optimal learning during this video, please have your printed manual open and ready to take notes on meaningful activities. In this video, we will be giving you an outline and the instructor will be discussing things as they are happening. You have the ability to pause the video to add notes to your manual or look at your video outline at any time.

You may want to include this newsletter in your monthly meeting, share it with your facilities camp directors or have an in-water in-service to practice the strategies.

Video Outline

(0:55) – Allow swimmer to get in the pool offering an option for asking or pointing to enter and to see if they were alone what they would be doing. Look to see if they are finding their feet, have a complete disregard for safety or if they’re looking to “take side”.

(2:36, 5:20) – We don’t want swimmers to spin repetitively. Try and re-direct the spinning into a strategy or a swim skill and avoid saying “NO SPINNING”. In this case the instructor used the tipping of the head back to move the lesson into back float.

(4:07) – Notice that it is a lead and follow type of lesson. The swimmer has limited interest in a visual schedule or PECS pictures therefore, you hear the instructor moving onto swim benchmarks of rolling over, back float and propelling himself on his back.

(5:48) – The instructor touches on Safety by encouraging the swimmer to grab the equipment. This is very important when addressing the roadblock of “I Can’t Touch That”. The intent is to improve the chance of a successful save were the child to be tossed a life preserver or lifeguard tube.

(8:50) – Including mom in the lesson for increased engagement and interaction offers the novelty of a new motivation. Watch carefully at the amount of time it takes James to process saying hi to mom. If you look closely he begins to wave about 15 seconds later by moving his hand, waving in the air.

(10:06) – Moving the lesson to work in prone (on his belly) requires more strength and is not a position of choice for him. Using mom as a motivator, adding flippers and using physical assistance to perform three consecutive laps that include modified swimming in prone was purposefully done so that James did not get upset with the demands

Quiz

1. If you are working on swim skills in prone and the swimmer constantly puts his head back and wants to move in the water on his back you should:
a) Force the swimmer to work on his stomach because it is your plan
b) Be flexible and add some swim skills that allow being on your back
c) Allow working on the back for the entire 30 minutes
d) None of the above

1. When there is a complete disregard for safety, the instructor should:
a) Never let go of the swimmer at any time.
b) Encourage a ritual and routine of always wearing a float when in the water.
c) Encourage a ritual and routine of asking for permission prior to entering the pool.
d) All of the above

c) Encourage a ritual and routine of asking for permission prior to entering the pool.

Full Video Outline

(0:55) – Allow swimmer to get in the pool offering an option for asking or pointing to enter and to see if they were alone what they would be doing. Look to see if they are finding their feet, have a complete disregard for safety or if they’re looking to “take side”.

(2:05) – The swim instructor identifies the following roadblocks in today’s lesson : How do I control my body, Safety, Ritual and Routine, Engagement and Interaction.

(2:36, 5:20) – We don’t want swimmers to spin repetitively. Try and re-direct the spinning into a strategy or a swim skill and avoid saying “NO SPINNING”. In this case the instructor used the tipping of the head back to move the lesson into back float.

(4:07) – Notice that it is a lead and follow type of lesson. The swimmer has limited interest in a visual schedule or PECS pictures therefore, you hear the instructor moving onto swim benchmarks of rolling over, back float and propelling himself on his back.

(4:28) – The ritual and routine of doing things 2-3 times in a row is done on purpose to help the swimmer remember and gain interest into this habit of floating and taking side.

(5:48) – The instructor touches on Safety by encouraging the swimmer to grab the equipment. This is very important when addressing the roadblock of “I Can’t Touch That”. The intent is to improve the chance of a successful save were the child to be tossed a life preserver or lifeguard tube.

(8:50) – Including mom in the lesson for increased engagement and interaction offers the novelty of a new motivation. Watch carefully at the amount of time it takes James to process saying hi to mom. If you look closely he begins to wave about 15 seconds later by moving his hand, waving in the air.

(10:06) – Moving the lesson to work in prone (on his belly) requires more strength and is not a position of choice for him. Using mom as a motivator, adding flippers and using physical assistance to perform three consecutive laps that include modified swimming in prone was purposefully done so that James did not get upset with the demands

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Swim Angelfish helps children with a variety of special needs reach their full potential through fun and challenging aquatic therapy sessions, and swim lessons. Swim Angelfish offers training options for therapists, swim professionals, and even parents who want to learn more about how to work with children with a broad range of special needs.